India, Canada eye $15 billion trade in next 5 years

TORONTO: As fans in Toronto cheered for Bollywood icons in the run up to the IIFA awards, reflecting the growing popularity of Hindi films in Canada, government and corporates of the two countries warmed up to firmer business ties that could see bilateral trade reaching $15 billion in the next five years.

Canada expects to create new business opportunities and partnerships in sectors such as clean technology, media and entertainment, tourism and higher education. The two countries are already negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which would boost two-way trade and investments.

Speaking at the Ficci-IIFA Global Business Forum in Toronto, Stewart Beck, the High Commissioner of Canada to India, said: "The two governments have set a target of growing the trade between the two countries from $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years."

He added that besides negotiating the free trade agreement, the two countries are also working on other agreements like the audio-video co-production treaty, social security agreement and foreign investment promotion and protection agreements.

Talking about the growing investments by Indian companies in Canada, Harsh Mariwala, president of Ficci, and chairman and managing director of Marico Industries, said: "Canada not only provides a gateway to the American market but also presents excellent opportunities for Indian businesses to explore." One of the reasons why Indian greenfield and mergers & acquisitions investments in Canada have already outstripped Canadian investments into India.

In a bid to attract the large number of Indians travelling abroad and to ensure better connectivity, Air Canada is soon looking to fly a direct flight linking key Indian destinations. Air capacity for one-stop flights between India and Canada has increased 17.5% in 2008 and 35% in 2009 over the previous years.

India is also looking to attract more Canadian travellers to India. "Canada ranks among the top five source countries for foreign tourists in India with a share of about 5% and this is expected to grow tremendously. Also Indian travellers are exploring new vacation destinations and the outbound segment is fast growing," said Jyotsna Suri, managing director of Lalit Group of Hotels and co-leader of the visiting Indian delegation.

As part of its initiatives, Canada has already announced a 10-year multiple entry visa for frequent travellers from India.

With a growing number of Indian movies being shot in international destinations, Canada, hosts for the 12th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), are also looking to woo Indian producers and directors to shoot their films in the country. The audio video co-production treaty, which is being negotiated, is expected to provide incentives to filmmakers for film collaborations and have easier access to shoot films in locations in these countries.

"There are also huge opportunities for digital collaboration among media companies in the two nations. Indian animation companies can get a lot of business especially outsourced by Canadian animation companies for content creation," said Munjal Shroff, co-founder, director & chief operating officer of Graphiti Multimedia.

The government of Ontario is learnt to have spent $12 million to host the IIFA weekend at Toronto, an award show that is expected to be watched by 700 million viewers on television.